Dutch chocolate brand Tony’s Chocolonely has introduced a legal structure to secure its mission to have all chocolate 100% slave free indefinitely, regardless of shareholder structure.
Tony’s Mission Lock takes a ‘golden share’ in the company, ensuring that amendments to Tony’s mission or its Five Sourcing Principles, cannot be made without the approval of this new governing structure.
It is being overseen by an independent foundation, supported by three Mission Guardians with a strong track record in social impact and sustainability spheres. Their responsibility is to act as representatives for Tony’s mission.
The guardians include entrepreneur Seth Goldman, Founder of Honest Tea and Eat the Change and Chair of Beyond Meat, who will chair Tony’s Mission Lock. Goldman is joined by journalist and social activist Ikenna Azuike and Anne-Wil Dijkstra, Tony’s former Chief of Impact, Operations and People.
Tony’s Chocolonely said it hopes other “purpose-driven leaders and shareholders” will be inspired by the new governing system which it describes as “a future-proof legal structure for impact companies”.
“It is no secret that I am a big supporter of purpose-led business,” said Tony’s Chocolonely Chief Executive Officer Douglas Lamont. “My firm belief is that any company, no matter its size, should place positive impact at the heart of its business.
“At Tony’s we are an impact company first and foremost, and our mission, to eliminate child labour and all illegal labour in the entire chocolate supply chain, is too important to just fade away in the future. So naturally we’ve been looking for ways to ensure that our hard work does not get undone.”
Further details are available here and Tony’s will be publishing an open-source guide.
The Mission Guardians will participate in Tony’s Fair, an impact celebration in Amsterdam on 8 June, with tickets available here. To celebrate the launch, Tony’s is offering all B-Corp certified companies four free tickets to “come along and talk mission, impact and all things B-Corp” on request. 
